To Love a Beast
by IchiRukiLover
Summary: Inoue Orihime runs into the forest due to a broken heart. Kurosaki Ichigo chases after her. What happens when Ichigo gets captured by 'The Beast' and Inoue has to sacrifice herself for the one she loves? UlquiHime AU. Slight IchiRuki. One-sided IchiHime.
1. Prologue -The Curse

Beauty and the Beast

AU. UlquiHime. Slight IchiRuki. One-sided IchiHime.

Summary: Can someone ever truly love a beast?

A/N: Hi! I just want to say thank you so much for checking out my story! I hope you like it! I would appreciate any reviews and/or criticism to help me improve my writing. Also the castle is in the forest by the cemetery Ichigo's mom was buried.

And I also know that there is a story called 'Masquerade' by keitoz. I did not copy her work! If you have read both of our stories, you can see that hers is very much different from mine.

Prologue-

Once upon a time, in a faraway land a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he obeyed all of Aizen-sama's wishes and got all that he desired, the prince was not happy. In fact, he was devoid of all emotions. Neither passion nor hatred ran through his veins. His voice was as cold as ice and tone was unmerciful.

But, then, on a cold winter's night an old man with glasses came to the castle and asked the prince for shelter for the price of a single rose. The prince was repulsed by him, saying that he was above letting such trash into his home. He turned the old man away, but he warned him that not all are as they seem and that he was not the so called 'trash' that he deemed him to be. He began to transform into a man with brown hair, a lock of hair escaping the gel that was placed there. He was dressed in all white and the glasses seemed to have disappeared.

Of course, the prince hid his shock of surprise by widening his eyes only a little. "Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra knew better than to question why Aizen-sama had disguised himself as an old man. He pushed those thoughts away, as if it made him uncomfortable.

Aizen only smiled at him, a coy smile that could only mean one thing. "Ulquiorra… it seems that you are unhappy here. Why is that?"

"I have vowed to be your loyal servant. That is enough for me."

"Alas, that is the wrong answer. I asked you why you were unhappy… Ulquiorra." Aizen added Ulquiorra as if it were an afterthought.

"It is my ways." Ulquiorra simply put, as if to end the matter quickly.

"Hm… Would you like to become powerful?" Aizen asked, with no hint of a smile now.

"I am already powerful, Aizen-sama." Ulquoirra bent his head a bit, to indicate that Aizen-sama was the one who made him that way.

"Ulquiorra, do you want to be powerful or do you want to be happy?" Aizen inquired.

Ulquiorra thought about it for a while and then said his answer. "I would like to be happy, Aizen-sama."

"Then you shall be cursed, along with all in this household, until you can find someone who truly loves you. And only then can you be happy." Aizen said that with a sly smirk on his face, as if his plan had already been set in motion. Then he disappeared, as if he was never there.

Ulquoirra shook his head in disdain. 'I am loyal to a man who may be a mad-man.' Although Ulquoirra would never admit it out loud, he had thought that Aizen-sama was too arrogant for his liking. But, Ulquiorra took the rose and mirror that Aizen-sama had left behind and closed the doors. He then went to sleep, but when the next morning came, he had become a beast, cursed to live in the castle of damnation for eternity.

A/N: Haha I didn't mean to put Aizen in this… but then it just came to me. So… I was wondering if anyone could help me make Aizen more IC (In-character)?


	2. Confession

Chapter 1: Confession

Inoue Orihime was walking swiftly to get to Kurosaki-kun's house. The road was sleek and covered in snow, which made it difficult to walk without falling. Inoue walked ever so carefully over the new born snow, treading leisurely, as if she did not want to disturb its slumber.

The snow was falling slowly and softly, barely making a whisper as it fell. Inoue paused to admire the snowfall, as she was fascinated by their gentleness and grace. She smiled slightly to herself, making her face light up with pure enjoyment. A happy tune escaped her lips as she continued on her way through the empty town.

Inoue swung her arms back and forth as she walked. The basket that she held in her hands, contained the left-over bread from the bakery she worked at, was being thrown around. She strolled past the river that ran in-between Karakura Town. Her happy demeanor vanished and a sad, thoughtful look adorned her face. 'This is where Kurosaki-kun's mom died. I bet she was a very beautiful and nice lady.'

Inoue stood like that, in a peaceful atmosphere for a few minutes. She was looking at the sun that was sitting beautifully on the water's edge. It painted the sky with peach and orange. 'It reminds me of Kurosaki-kun's hair.' She smiled a little at that thought. Then she realized something. 'Oh, right! I was on my way to see Kurosaki-kun!'

She then continued on her way to Kurosaki-kun's house and couldn't wait to see him.

Soon, she was lost in thought and didn't pay attention to where she was going. Someone was standing on the sidewalk, with his hand in his pockets, staring at the sky. Inoue walked straight into him, sending them both crashing down onto the icy sidewalk. An "oof" escaped the strangers lips, as Inoue's body crushed his body underneath her weight. The bread loaves went skittering across the icy road, rendering them uneatable.

Inoue hurriedly stood up and offered a rushed apology. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going!" And then she saw the sunset color hair that she had just been thinking of.

"Kurosaki-kun?!" A surprised look graced Inoue's face, immediately followed by a blush.

"Inoue? What are you doing here?" Ichigo had a confused look on his face, which made him look even cuter. With that thought, Inoue blushed slightly more, turning a shade of pink darker.

"I-I, um, was coming to see you, K-Kurosaki-kun." Inoue stuttered, because now that she thought about it, it sounded absurd.

"Eh? What for?" Ichigo asked, oblivious of Inoue's blushing.

"Oh, um, to give you the bread that I got from my job." Inoue now realized how dumb of an idea that sounded.

"What bread?" Ichigo asked, while looking around.

Inoue reached down to grab the basket that contained the bread, but then with horror, she realized that they all tumbled out.

"Oh no! The bread fell out!" Inoue's shock turned to one of disbelief. 'How can I talk to Kurosaki-kun now? I'm not really good at talking to him.'

All of sudden fingers were being snapped in front of her face, as if she were being snapped out of a trance.

"What?" Inoue asked curiously.

"You've been zoning out for the past couple of minutes!" Ichigo said.

Inoue only then grasped situation. Ichigo was smirking as he handed her the basket of bread.

"O-oh. S-sorry, Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue smiled sheepishly and a blush tinged her pale, soft cheeks.

"It's no problem, Inoue." Ichigo smiled his stunning smile and Inoue practically melted.

Suddenly Inoue burst out and said, "I love you, Kurosaki-kun!" Then, with a certain amount of horror, Inoue realized what she'd just said. She clasped her hands over her mouth and apologized.

All the while, Ichigo was staring dumbfounded at her. Before Ichigo could respond, Inoue ran off.

"Inoue!" Ichigo shouted after her, finally recovering from the shock. Ichigo was about to take after her, but then a hand stopped him from doing so.

"Wha-?" Ichigo started, but was interrupted when an elbow hit him in the stomach.

"You fool! You can't run after her! She needs time to think!" A voice shouted at him, a very familiar voice in fact.

"Rukia! What are you doing here?!"

"Don't ask me such a question! Don't tell me you're trying to get out of this situation?!" Rukia shouted her verbal abuse at him.

"What do you mean?! What situation?!" Ichigo shouted back at her, aware of the noise they were making.

"Idiot! Inoue just confessed her feelings for you!" Rukia was unaware of the noise that they were making, as she always had done what she done.

"Oh… that." Suddenly Ichigo demeanor calmed down and a thoughtful look took over his face.

Rukia, sensing that something had changed in Ichigo's mood, immediately decided to hit him to get him out of it.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Ichigo said, snapping out of his thoughts.

"For zoning out! You have to focus on Inoue!" Rukia was pissed at Ichigo. He should have to be focusing on Inoue instead of zoning out.

"But… I don't love her." Ichigo muttered, barely audible to Rukia.

Rukia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Inoue was beautiful, caring, thoughtful and overall an amazing friend. How could Ichigo not love her?! "Eh?! How could you not?!"

"Idiot! It's because I love someone else!" Ichigo shot back and instantly regretted it.

"What?!" Rukia was having trouble believing this entire conversation. Who could it be? She wondered.

"Eh, um, nothing!" Ichigo replied back.

Rukia brushed it off and didn't bug him about it, which seemed out of character of her.

"Rukia, is everything alright?" Ichigo curiously asked with no harm in the question.

"Y-yeah!" Rukia replied back. "Well I should get going! It's getting dark! See you later!"

"Okay! See you later, Rukia!"

Ichigo then set off in the direction where Inoue went, even though Rukia told him that she needed to think. He just wanted to get Inoue back because it was going to get dark soon, and his overprotective side compelled him to get her… even if he did break her heart.

A/N: Sorry for the IchiHime(ish) stuff in the chapter! Please bear with me. I'm sorry for no UlquiHime in this chapter. Hell, I'm sorry for not even putting Ulquiorra in this chapter! But, I needed a reason for Inoue to be in a forest… at night, so yeah, that was the reason. And don't worry, her love for Ichigo will go away, because it is an UlquiHime fan-fic after all.


End file.
